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It has been a busy last few weeks!  We finished planting (less one tractor!) and had to turn around and start spraying some of the first planted fields.  The crops are growing quickly, and so are the weeds!  Plus the hay has come on nicely with the rains we’ve had, so we are trying to get that in when it’s not raining as well.  Cousin Bob’s silo is almost full, (but it’s taking longer than usual), and we have ours to do next.

Watching the wheat start to head (the grain part starting to form) in May is not something anyone can remember happening in the past.  Another 6 weeks, and we may have the combine out to start harvesting already!

Our John Deere 2140 with the cab, otherwise known as “the green” tractor, was spreading fertilizer on Tues, when all the dash warning lights came on at the same time!  Since Dad couldn’t actually find anything wrong with all the fluid levels etc. we decided it must be something wonky electrically.  However the lights would go on and off depending on what you were doing with it, so we figured we better take it to the John Deere Dealership to see what was wrong just in case. 

Too late!  Apparently a rod had come lose inside the engine and punched a hole in the engine block.  So basically it needs a new engine, plus labour to install it, and you might as well buy a whole ‘nother tractor #@$%#$  So I guess we will be getting along with out it for a while, unless anyone has any home remedies for fixing  a hole in an engine block!?

So this blog is going to need a new name if I keep posting about the sheep, and keep ignoring the pigs.  I do think I prefer pig’s squealing (happy squeals at least) to sheep bleating, the sheep are just so loud!

Wed. saw the arrival of the purbred’s!  40 ewe lambs came from Mik-Lin Farms in Keswick.  Now we have the old barn full, and we will have to see how things go with getting them all bred over the summer.

Actually, Jenna informs me that, technically, it was a spring storm!  Summer isn’t ’till June.

So, the spring storm did wait until I had finished planting the one field of corn, however, the pigs didn’t get feed until the rain slowed down enough that I could unload the feed wagon without getting wet.  Which was right after this photo was taken.

Now, I was wondering if the rainbow ends at my Barn, why haven’t I found the ‘pot of gold’ yet?  Karen thinks the sheep might just be it!  I think that might be pushing it.

I now have a pair of well bred Rams!  Made the trip over to Bailieboro to pick them up last week and had a nice chat with the owner, Ruco Braat, while he sorted them out for me.  Always nice to see how other people’s facilities are set up, and what things you could copy on your own farm.   I quite liked his handling facilities, and would certainly like to be able to do something similar.

The rams haven’t yet been sheared for the summer, which is ironic, because he is a shearer as well.  Apparently, he’s been busy with everyone else’s, and hasn’t got his own done yet.

Here is a picture of the 2 new additions.

So the herd of sheep I got, only had 1 Ram.  I need more than that!  So I had looked up various breeders in the area, and emailed several of them to see who had Rams for sale.  There was a guy from Rockwook who had a couple, as well as a farm in Woodville and one in Bailieboro.  And then there was a Mike and Linda from Keswick that had a couple.  There was also a Mike and Linda from Sutton (next to Keswick) but they were sold out, as were a few other breeders. 

So I called Mike and Linda back about a Ram, but I asked if they had any Ewes for sale, as I was thinking I needed a few more than I had.  Lucky I asked, because she had 40 ewe lambs (young ones) that had been spoken for, but were now available.  All I had to do was email her my details, and she would email me back with where to send the cheque.

After sending off my email, and not hearing back from her for a couple of days, I sent another one.  It too went unanswered for a day, before I got a call from Linda.  She didn’t have any ewes, and wondered if I had the wrong Mike and Linda farm, as the other Mike and Linda live just a mile away.

At his point, I had to go back to Google and find the other email/contact info because I hadn’t kept it since they didn’t have anything available.  An email sent to them, and an answer right back,  and I have 40 ewe lambs coming in a couple of weeks.

The real question remains though, how the heck did I call the wrong one in the first place?!  I couldn’t even find the number when I was looking for the email address.  For the life of me, I can’t figure out that call.

April has started out warm and dry, and the fields have dried up in record time.  One of the earliest springs in recent memory!

Cousin Bob got started planting for one day on April 5th, and then had to wait a week.  We managed to get some manure on and our first wheat planted yesterday.  If the weather stays nice like it is supposed to, the grain should be finished by next week.  Then we will have to decide whether to start planting corn that early or not!?

The early spring has certainly made things a little hectic, normally we would have had an extra couple of weeks to get ready!

Having found a herd of sheep that the Booker family near Welland had decided to get rid of, I am now the proud owner of a small herd of sheep.  They were delivered today (Friday) after we spent most of the week renovating the old sow barn inorder to be ready for them.  Which is another story, I’ll have to tell that one later!

As some of you may know, I’ve started scaling back on the number of pigs I have on the farm.  (but still enough to keep the freezer full, so keep on buying pork!)  The pigs I don’t sell through the freezer have been losing money over the last 3 years, and the outlook for the next few doesn’t really look that promising.

Sheep, however, seem to be a growing market, and supply is not keeping up with demand, so there are certainly some opportunities there.

Plus, of course, you might say I was born to be a lamb farmer!  And I don’t even have to change the name of my website!

We will see what happens…